A Seed in the Sun

by Aida Salazar (Author)

Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

A farm working girl with big dreams meets activist Dolores Huerta and joins the 1965 protest for migrant workers' rights in this tender-hearted middle grade novel in verse, perfect for fans of Rita Williams-Garcia and Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Reticent Lula Viramontes aches to one day become someone whom no one can ignore: a daring ringleader in a Mexican traveling carpa. But between working the grape harvest in Delano, California, with her older siblings under dangerous conditions; taking care of her younger siblings and Mamá, who has mysteriously fallen ill; and doing everything she can to avoid Papá's volatile temper; it's hard to hold on to those dreams.

Then she meets activist Dolores Huerta and el Teatro Campesino (the official theater company of the United Farm Workers) and realizes she may need to raise her voice sooner rather than later. Because farm workers are striking for better treatment and wages, and whether Lula's family joins them or not will determine their future--for better or worse.

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Hardcover
$17.99

Hornbook

Starred Review
Salazar seamlessly combines historical events of the farmworkers' rights movement and the 1965 Delano grape strike with a sensitive portrayal of a girl trying to make sense of the world. It's a powerful coming-of-age story filled with evocative language, memorable characters, and apt nature imagery

Kirkus

Compelling and atmospheric.

ALA/Booklist

Starred Review
Led by a memorable protagonist, this novel mixes themes of growth and change with historical details and powerful observations on the abuses that sparked the Farmworkers' Movement and the strength of those demanding justice.

Review quotes

Accolades for Aida Salazar

The Moon Within
Four starred reviews: Kirkus, SLJ, PW, BookPage
Best Books of 2019: Kirkus, NPR's Book Concierge, SLJ, NYPL, Center for Multicultural Children's Literature
- 2020 Indie Next List
- ALA 2020 Rainbow Book List
- Charlotte Huck Recommended Book
- International Latino Book Award (MG fiction) winner
- Golden Poppy Award winner
- Américas Award honor
- NCTE 2020 Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels
- Nerdy Book Award for Poetry
- Lincoln Nebraska City Libraries Top 100 Novels for Youth

Land of the Cranes

Three starred reviews: Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Best Books of 2020: Kirkus, SLJ, NYPL (Top 10), BookPage
- Book Expo Buzz pick
- John and Patricia Beatty Award winner
- Charlotte Huck Award honor
- Jane Addams Peace Association honor
- Vermont Golden Dome Book List
- ALA RISE: Feminist Book List
Aida Salazar
Aida Salazar is an award-winning author and arts activist whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the middle-grade verse novels The Moon Within (International Latino Book Award Winner), Land of the Cranes (Americas Award Winner), the picture book anthology, In the Spirit of a Dream, and the picture book biography Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter. She is a founding member of Las Musas, a Latinx kidlit debut author collective. Her short story "By the Light of the Moon" was adapted into a ballet production by the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history. She lives with her family of artists in Oakland, California.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593406601
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Dial Books
Publication date
October 25, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV057000 - Juvenile Fiction | Stories in Verse (see also Poetry)
JUV016150 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | United States - 20th Century
JUV011030 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - Hispanic & Latino
Library of Congress categories
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